Polyploids arise when a rare mitotic or meiotic catastrophe, such as nondisjunction, causes the formation of gametes that have a complete set of duplicate chromosomes. ... When a diploid gamete fuses with a haploid gamete, a triploid zygote forms, although these triploids are generally unstable and can often be sterile.

What is polyploidy and how does it occur?

polyploidy, the condition in which a normally diploid cell or organism acquires one or more additional sets of chromosomes. ... Polyploidy arises as the result of total nondisjunction of chromosomes during mitosis or meiosis.

Why does polyploidy occur more in plants?

Plants are fixed in their bed. Therefore, they are constantly influenced by variable factors of their environment which may cause more changes on their karyotype. Moreover, most of plant species produce lots of seeds through sexual regeneration by which chance of genomic changes would be increased.